Good Ol' Boys
by McRaider
Summary: Ch. 6: Martha looked at her niece and sighed softly, I’ll always be there Daisy, in all that you do, when you do the chores, watch after our boys, when you love. Everything you do I’ll be there. It’s gonna be okay baby.”
1. And Then There Were Three

Good Ol' Boys  
McRaider  
Summary: The story of how our good ol' boys became good ol' boys. Also the boys are six years apart and Daisy is three from both. I know they're closer in real life but for some of my ideas to work I had to do it this way. Disclaimer: I don't own them…wish I did, cause I love Tom and John!

Prologue: And then there were Three  
September 9th, 1954

It wasn't an outrageously amazing day, wasn't even that pretty; but rather it was cloudy and overcast. The morning had started like many others for Andrew Duke and his wife Caroline; a couple who had been married for a little over a year. They were expecting their first child any day now, and while Andrew was quite excited Caroline remained apprehensive in many respects; she was your average big city girl. She'd been born and raised in the city, so when she'd married Andrew and they'd moved out into the country it had been quite the adjustment. She believed her child would grow better in the country but it made her nervous all the time. Caroline missed the sounds of busy cities.

The day was cloudy, large rain clouds on their way to hopefully do more than sprinkle on the Alabama country line. Andrew gazed up at the sky from where he sat working beside tractor. His younger brother, Jesse sat beside him trying to help. Andrew had sent a silent prayer up to the heavens when Jesse had offered to come by the farm for a few weeks and help out until the baby came. With their younger brothers working the Duke farm it wasn't in any dire need. Jesse had just married a little over a month ago, so he and Martha had willingly come to visit the eldest Duke boy.

"Jesse!" Martha's cry came from the front porch of the farm house. Two sets of identical blue eyes looked up from their work to see Martha leading a very pregnant Caroline out of the house. She was grabbing her belly. "She's in labor!"

It was a race to the hospital, there was no question that Caroline was in labor and for whatever reasons the baby was in a hurry to get here. They arrived at the hospital and Caroline was rushed into the delivery room, Caroline begged Martha to come in with her.

Jesse sat beside his older brother and sighed, "Whatcha gonna name the little one?" he asked trying to distract his brother from worrying.

Blue eyes studied the younger man for a moment, Jesse was about eighteen months younger than him, but they'd always ruled the farm together. Then Andrew had met Caroline, fallen in love and together they'd gone to Alabama. Leaving behind six younger brothers to help their poor mother carry along; although Andrew didn't rightly expect Joe or Jon to stay on the farm much longer, both were too much of movers and shakers. In fact Andrew wouldn't be surprised if Jon decided to try a hand at college.

"Lukas if it's a boy and Annie if it's a girl—though Caroline is set on a boy don't know what we'd do if it was a girl."

"'spect you'd settle with the girl an' be happy," Jesse offered casually.

Andrew chuckled and nodded and glanced back up at the clock, six and half hours had passed since their arrival, he felt like he was going crazy. Just as he was about to get up and harass the nurses again the doors swung open, and out stepped Martha. In her arms with a soft white blanket, moving ever so slightly; Andrew's eyes grew wide at the sight of his sister-in-law. Stepping closer he gaped at the sight.

Inside the blanket laid an infant with bright pink cheeks a tuft of brown hair sticking out in all directions. Blue eyes were wide open—and not the typical blue most babies had, these ones were almost deep water blue. The baby's eyes locked with Andrews, who swore his heart stopped. "Andrew congratulations, you've got a son," Martha offered.

Andrew instinctively reached out and accepted the frail and tiny bundle of blankets. He felt awed at the beautiful sight before him. Jesse was leaning over his shoulder gazing down at the beautiful baby. Unable to resist the baby Jesse felt his heart melt as he grabbed a hand sticking out from the blankets. Immediately the tiny hand seemed to grip his. "Lukas Kameron Duke," whispered Andrew.

"He's beautiful Andy," Jesse murmured.

o0o

February 19th, 1957

Unlike Caroline and Andrew's first birth, Elizabeth's took nearly fifteen hours; finally the doctor's decided it was best to give her a c-section. Moments later the baby decided to grace the world with its presence. Martha was in the room with Elizabeth; Joseph's wife. Along with Lily who had just recently married the youngest Duke, Jon.

Screams echoed through the room as the doctor gripped the baby girl in his arms, "Congratulations Elizabeth, you've got a daughter," once the baby was wrapped and warmed up they placed her in her mother's arms.

Elizabeth—married to the third Duke boy, Joseph Duke, held her daughter with glee. Exhausted and sure she was going to die, she couldn't be happier at the sight of the beautiful infant in her arms. Like her older cousin she had dark brown hair. She was simply beautiful.

Martha watched half excited and half sad, she'd found out recently she couldn't have any children. Though she enjoyed nothing more than spending time with her nephews; now however, she had a niece to play with as well. Andrew had moved back to Atlanta after the death of his wife and youngest son Jud. He'd lost them both in a hospital fire; left with only his baby boy—now three years old, He'd decided he needed to be closer to family.

Since then Anne Duke had died, the matriarch of the family, leaving the farm primarily to Jesse and Martha who had remained behind. Many of the other Dukes had spread out across the southern states; two had decided to go to the Yankee side; though the family wasn't yet holding it against them.

Once they'd settled Elizabeth in, they invited the boys to come in. Jesse Duke lead the group, on his hip curled his eldest nephew, Luke Duke, now three the child was beginning to show more and more of his father's traits everyday. "Luke, this is your cousin Daisy," Jesse whispered.

Blue eyes grew wide at the sight of the tiny girl who was crying in her mother's arms. Immediately tiny hands slapped over the child's ears, "Daeee loud!" he cried shaking his head. The family chuckled at the antics of the eldest nephew.

"Yes son, get used to it, all women are," joked Joseph as he lifted his nephew from Jesse's arms and carried him over to the bed, "However she just wants to be friends. Can you be friends with her Lukey?"

"Baby scweam!"

Andrew smiled softly, he adored his little boy, thankful that he still had something after all the horrible accident a year ago. "You did too once son. You remember how to hold a baby right?"

"Lukey hold!" cheered the toddler as he held out his arms perfectly. Elizabeth smirked, fully trusting the tot she handed her daughter over. Luke protected Daisy as if they were siblings. He looked down at her, their eyes meeting and he smiled slowly, "Daee prudy," he murmured ever so softly.

It was moments like that when Luke reminded his father more of Caroline than himself. Reaching out he dropped a soft kiss on top of his son's forehead watching the toddler interact with the beautiful infant girl.

o0o

March 8th, 1959

From start to finish Lily Duke's pregnancy was by far the most complicated and difficult of all the Dukes. The first three months they were sure they would lose the baby, and almost did once. By month four they were fairly sure she'd carry it to full term but only if she was on bed rest. The doctors had already told Lily that she was not to do any work and move around more than physically necessary. She would most likely have to give birth through c-section though she'd asked to try and give birth naturally for as long as possible.

By month six the baby's breathing sounds weren't normal and they were concerned he'd developed some sort of infection—at month seven the baby was grossly under weight and wasn't showing a progression as much as they'd have liked. And that's when the problem occurred, at the eighth month Lily went into premature labor. Luckily surrounded by her close family she was whisked to the hospital.

The baby's lungs wouldn't be fully developed and there was a very good chance of him not surviving if he was born this month, but the doctors realized at that point he was coming whether anyone wanted him to or not. Twenty-three intense hours of labor later and several denials of surgery later there was a rupture, the baby was born not breathing and Lily died on the table.

Martha stepped out from the labor room, tears trailing down her cheeks, the doctors had given her permission to break the news if she felt up to it. Truth was, Martha didn't want her brother-in-law to hear it from some stranger. She stepped over to the group, including little Luke and Daisy, their parents and Jesse, as well as the baby's father. "The—the baby was born," she whispered softly, "He isn't breathing, they were trying to resuscitate him when I stepped out of the room…."

"My wife? Lily?" Jonathan asked quietly suddenly afraid.

Martha took another slow deep breath, "There was a rupture, the bleeding started to soon and too fast. They couldn't stop it, your wife bled out. Jonathan I'm so sorry," she answered sadly.

Jesse was there to catch his baby brother as the barely man began to cry into his big brother's shoulder. "If…if they get the baby's breathing started he'll be taken to the ICU—they're concerned because his lungs haven't fully developed."

"Was his heart beating?" Andrew questioned softly as he stood holding his son.

She nodded, "They got a heart beat but lost it shortly after they realized he wasn't breathing. The doctors said they would let us know more as soon as they could."

As if on cue a nurse stepped out from behind the doors as well, she was dressed in a pair of pink scrubs, removing her sweat soaked mask she gave a sad smile to the small family, "Mr. Duke?" Four men glanced up, causing her to chuckle, "Jon Duke?"

"My son, how is he?"

"First off I'm nurse Roberts and I'll be caring for your son in the NNICU until he's healthy enough to leave. Your son is showing the earliest sign of asthma we've ever seen. If you are unaware asthma is the swelling of the bronchial tissue, which are the tubes in the lungs. They help carry the blood and oxygen to the rest of the body as well as from the heart. When they get irritated they begin to swell and cause air flow restriction. Asthma cannot be cured however there are medications to help the condition and the medications are getting better every day. We were able to stabilize the little fella, but he's on a oxygen right now to help him with his breathing. Because his lungs are still under developed he'll have to stay here for at least six weeks. We can't let you into the NNICU right now, but we do have a window and you can see your son if you'd like, but I warn you he looks very tiny right now."

"What is the NNICU?" Jesse questioned softly, feeling overwhelmed by all that he'd been told in less than ten minutes. He was now a single dad, and that was something he'd have to adjust to later. He had a son to care for and Lily wanted that baby more than anything.

"Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, it's for all babies with problems—whether premature or dying. Would you like to see your son?"

Jonathan nodded slowly, together the family followed the sweet nurse back through the hallways, until they reached two large windows. Jesse, who was carrying Daisy stopped and just stared, stunned by all the tiny little babies—some even smaller than his nephew probably. "Mr. Duke your son is the first baby on the right. I want you to also know, the NNICU is not a death sentence. Your son could make excellent progress and come out of this a very healthy child. But he has to fight, and he's got quite a fight in front of him."

The man just looked at the baby, who didn't span anymore than maybe twelve inches, he looked pasty white, he was wearing a diaper that looked two sizes too big a little hat over his head no doubt covering honey blonde hair. The nurse had been right, he looked so tiny covered by all the machines. "Beauregard Jesse Duke," whispered Jon as he placed his hand against the glass.

Jesse stared at his little brother, he'd never expected that, "Jon?"

"Beauregard is such a terrible name, but Lily loved it, and I always wanted a son named Jesse. Is it all right that since she's—" he paused.

The nurse reached out and touched the hurting man's arm, "He is your son Mr. Duke we encourage parents from the NNICU to name their babies, it seems strange but we believe it helps the child. Also you need to be aware that we recently just discovered too much oxygen can cause blindness in babies, so we're trying to regulate how much we use. There is some risk involved but this hospital has faired well in that area. Also we're one of the first hospitals doing this, but we try to give parents more interaction with their babies. Your son, tiny as he is can't be handled just yet, but in a week or two if we like how he's progressing you'll be able to gown up and hold him."

"I can't hold him," whispered Jonathan.

She shook her head, "No, I'm afraid not. Right now it would stress him out, but as I said we'll keep an eye on him and as soon as you can we'll let you know."

Luke, still sitting in his daddy's arms studied this tiny little creature through the glass. The baby wasn't like any other babies he'd ever seen. This one was quiet and very still—it was almost creepy. "He ain't no Beauregard," piped up the five and a half year old.

All eyes turned to the child for a moment, "Luke?" Andrew questioned his son.

Luke looked at his daddy, "He ain't no Beauregard daddy, he's a Bo!"

Jonathan smiled for the first time since he'd been hit with all this news, reaching out he swept his nephew into his arms and pressed a kiss to the boy's cheek, "Right you are my boy, right you are. Luke, Daisy—this is your cousin, Bo."

o0o

As promised nearly two weeks later, Jonathan got to hold his son for the very first time, though still small and frail the baby was showing signs of vast improvement. The nurses considered him the miracle baby. To come from such odds and bounce back, it was decided that 'Bo'; as dubbed by his cousin, was a survivor. Something Jonathan was thankful for as he pushed through the first month as a widower.

Six weeks later the nurses and doctors felt confident enough to send the baby home. So the Duke household was cleaned from top to bottom and Bo was taken home for the first time in almost seven weeks since his birth.

TBC


	2. And So It Begins

Chapter One: And So it Begins  
November 12th, 1959

Jon, Andrew and Joseph had decided to go looking at the new cattle for the farm, they'd been considering buying some for a long time, and the farm was financially stable enough now to consider it. After some convince, Elizabeth agreed to go, Jesse and Martha willingly remained behind with six year old Luke, three year old Daisy and eight month old Bo. The baby had been through plenty of trouble already in the house and on the farm. Though he was still getting stronger everyday, it wasn't unusual to wake up in the middle of the night and have the child wheezing. A terrifying experience for any child, let alone an infant who's only way to communicate was to scream and cry—which only caused it to worsen.

Luke sat at the kitchen table late that night, coloring a picture for his daddy when he got home, Daisy was lying in Uncle Jesse's lap listening as he read her their favorite bedtime story. Bo had since been put to bed and was thus far, quiet. That's when the phone rang; Martha who'd been cleaning up the kitchen didn't think much of it when her nephew cried out he'd get it and hurried to the phone.

"'Ello?" he answered his Uncles had taught him. "Yes—kay, Uncle Jesse!"

"Lukas don't shout," Jesse replied as he lifted his niece from his arms and moved to the kitchen.

Martha looked at her husband and smiled, "Okay you two, let's get you ready for bed."

"Jesse Duke speaking—" the man's eyes slowly got big as he listened to every word, he felt his breath leave his chest, his heart began to thump. He felt his entire world begin to crumble at the man's words on the other line. "Yes sir I understand—thank you."

Martha returned a few moments later, "Those two are a handful—" she noticed her husband's pale face and tears shining in his eyes, "Jesse?"

He looked over at her slowly, "They're gone."

She felt her own stomach revolt for a moment, "Who's gone?"

"They're dead—that…that was the Atlanta police, they were driving back. It's been raining all day and they hit a slick patch went off the side of a cliff, oh god Martha," the normally stoic man felt his entire universe crumble as he buried his face in his hands.

"Auntie Marth—" the boy stopped, looking at his Aunt and Uncle, "Uncle Jesse?"

Martha felt her heart break as the boy questioned what was wrong. Jesse took a slow deep breath and gently lifted his nephew into his arms, "Lukas you remember when you was a baby an' your brother an' momma were called by God?"

The boy nodded, "Daddy says they's happier up there anyway. I don't 'member them."

Jesse felt his mind reel, this child had just gone from one parent to an orphan in seconds, "Luke, son—your daddy…" how did you tell a six year old that his daddy wasn't coming home, "Baby—"

Martha sighed sadly and knelt down in front of her husband and nephew, "Luke baby your daddy and Uncles got in an accident, sweetheart God decided it was their time as well."

It took a moment, but realization hit the child and his eyes welled up with tears, "Did I do somethin' wrong?" he whimpered.

Martha swept the boy into her arms as he began to whimper, "No baby, God no, you're a perfect angle—but sometimes God," she felt the tears begin to overwhelm her, "Sometimes God decides it's your time early."

o0o

Luke stood silently in front of his uncle, vaguely aware of the strong hands on either shoulder that would tighten every time the older man was almost overcome by tears. Daisy stood to Luke's right, holding one of Aunt Martha's hands. In their aunt's other arm laid an infant—Bo. Luke felt his heart sink; at least he and Daisy would have some recollection of their parents, some good memories. Bo didn't have any memory of neither parent. His mother had died giving birth to him, an' his daddy died before the boy was even a year old.

He'd decided life wasn't fair, though he didn't know much about life, being barely six, but he decided that in the grand scheme of things—life wasn't fair.

Jesse Duke would miss his brothers and sisters, his heart broke for the three babies they'd left behind. However he vowed to care for all three children as they were his own. He glanced down at the eldest child, a strapping child of six years old he was strong. Though since finding out about his father's death the boy hadn't shed a single tear. Jesse knew the bridge would break eventually—he just hoped it was soon. No child should have to suffer losing a parent and be brave about it. That was the adults job to be brave, not a little boy's.

It was when they began to lower the caskets that Daisy finally lost it and began to sob. Jesse released his nephew's shoulders and swept her up in his arms. She sobbed into his neck and shoulder as he carried her back towards the car, his stopped when he saw Luke bend down.

Luke bent forward and grabbed a tiny handful of dirt, "Bye Daddy—say hi to Momma and Jud," he murmured before turning around and gripping his aunt's outstretched hand.

The wake was a nice affair, the family was there and discussing who would take the three children. It had been in Andrew and Joseph's will that their children go to one of the remaining Duke family members, preferably Jesse because he was the most stable at the farm. Bo's parents however didn't have a will. A lawyer would be arriving soon to determine that further, however the family agreed the child should remain with his cousins.

By early afternoon all the family had left, Daisy and Bo were napping and Luke was pretending to read a book, though Jesse was fairly sure the boy was hurting and just wasn't ready to admit it yet. Jesse decided to get some chores done while Martha set to work cleaning up.

Luke sat in the chair, his mind running over everything that had happened recently, he felt sick to his stomach. It was when the door opened later that night that it all hit him. His uncle stepped through the door and Luke desperately wanted it to be his daddy. His throat began to close, his heart began to race.

Martha and Jesse heard the first sob and knew instantly what was happening. Jesse reached the sobbing six year old first. Scooping up the broken boy in his arms he felt heart wrenching sobs shake his body. Jesse felt his own eyes beginning to water at the thought of such a small child knowing so much pain. All he could do was rock the poor child back and forth as he cried the pain and heartache of being an orphan.

o0o

Life went on at the Duke Farm, though not without a few problems. Less than three weeks since their parents death and they hadn't heard a work from the lawyers belonging to Bo's mama. Jesse was hoping that because she'd died her family didn't see the point in taking a helpless child away, but a rational side of him knew that probably wasn't the case.

Luke had taken to keeping to himself mostly; Daisy was still just a small child and didn't quite get the concept of death. Then there was little Bo; so tiny and small he'd had attacks twice already in as many weeks. It was late one night; Luke had been fast asleep curled up on his side clutching his stuffed bear his mother had bought him when Jud had been born. School was starting in less than two weeks and Luke was beginning to have second thoughts about staying here forever.

Luke awoke from a nightmare, which seemed to be normal with every passing day. He'd started learning how to wake himself up before he woke up screaming or crying. Glancing around the darkened room his eyes fell upon the crib across from him. He could see the tiny baby through the bars as it lay on its back. He felt a sudden jolt of fear hit him for whatever reason. The fear forced him to his feet and he moved towards the tiny infant.

Peering inside he felt his stomach churn, Bo lay on his back, lips a tinged blue mouth wide open as if trying to scream, but instead his lungs were hitching desperately. The baby wasn't breathing, horrible raspy sounds were coming when he tried to get air in. "HELP!" Screamed Luke, unsure what else to yell; reaching out he easily dropped the crib gate and moved closer to his cousin. He reached out and gently turned the baby on its side and began to rub its back soothingly. As if on cue a moment later the baby started to spit up, tiny whimpers managed to get past whatever was causing his inability to breathe.

Uncle Jesse came running into the room and saw the scene, "Martha! Call Doc Applebee! Tell him we're on our way into town!" cried the older man. "Luke wrap him in a blanket and be extra careful okay?"

Luke nodded and gently did as he was told. Moments later he was holding the little life in his arms. He held the baby all the way to town, watching as this helpless little infant struggled for every breath, it was as if Luke could sense the panic in the baby. Reaching out with one arm, Luke gripped the tiny hand in his. "I'll protect ya cuz," he murmured softly as he pressed a kiss to the hand.

They arrived at Doc Applebee's house nearly ten minutes after leaving the farm—it was plausible that Jesse had broken every speed limit in Hazzard County. The Doctor and his wife met them outside. He easily accepted the tiny bundle from Luke's arms, "I have to take him in the back, why don't you guys settle down, Jenny could you make them something to drink?"

She nodded and watched her husband whisk the baby into the exam rooms. Nearly half an hour later both she and her husband stepped back out from behind the curtain. Jesse held Little Luke in his arms, whimpering quietly; Luke was afraid he'd killed his cousin. Jesse glanced up at the two friends he'd known all his life. "How's my boy?" he asked quietly.

"Luke, you saved that boy's life, do you know that?"

The deep ocean blue eyes met the Doctor's, "Really?"

The older man nodded and lifted Luke from his Uncle's lap, "If you hadn't turned him on his side he would have died son. You did an excellent job, I'm very proud of you. Now your cousin is awake and only appears to want you to hold him. Would you like that?"

The six year old nodded, feeling thankful he'd protected his baby cousin. Jenny held out her hand, accepting it, Luke followed the older woman in the back, leaving the Doctor with Jesse.

"How is he really?" Jesse questioned.

The doctor sighed and took a seat, "It was close, too close. Luke saved the child, another few moments on his back and Bo would have suffocated. The problem is babies don't understand what they're feeling, and by the time its bad enough they can't even breathe to cry. I'm a little concerned that it's happened so many times. I'd like to come by the house and look it over, make sure we're not introducing any allergens to him. Martha can help; we can develop a list of things to do so we can start preventing these attacks."

"What about that medicine?"

"They are making great leaps and bounds in asthma medication, but it's still not great. I can give you a couple things to try, but the problem is you can only use them once and never at the same time. If you give him too much medication it will speed his heart rate and cause cardiac arrest, especially with his weakened state. I'd also like to start teaching him breathing techniques; however that'll have to wait until he's a year or so. "

Jesse nodded, "We'll do whatever it takes Doc, you know that."

He chuckled and gently patted his friend's hand, "I know Jesse, I know. Come on I'll take you to your nephews."

Luke sat on a small cot in a corner, a blanket covering him to his arm. Curled on his side he was curled around Bo's little figure. The child, not breathing better, was playing with Luke's hand as the older boy played with the tiny blonde curls. Jesse studied the two for a moment, enjoying the sight of the gentle touch his nephew had with such a child.

"It would probably be best to leave them here this evening Jesse, I can go back with you to the farm in the morning and we'll go over the house. I'll have Jen call Martha and tell her everything is okay if you'd like."

"I'll call her, do you mind if I stay in here with the boys on that there cot?"

The doctor smiled, "Heavens no friend, feel free. If you need anything let us know. Luke, you be gentle with him, okay."

After going over the entire house they were able to realize the house had a little dust as well as some stuffed animals that were causing problems. The boys would have to sleep with their windows closed from now on as well. Once the doctor sat down with Martha and Jesse they brought Bo home and settled him back in. The doctor then went on to explain the medications, stating that it still wasn't always affective and if he had a really bad attack they were to call him immediately.

o0o

It was Monday morning two weeks later and Luke sat at the kitchen table looking at food that he normally considered amazing. Today, however, he was going to his first day of school and he was terrified. Though to be fair, Daisy didn't seem too happy he was leaving either, she was losing her play time buddy.

"Come on Lukas, you don't want to be late for your first day," Martha offered gently, aware how nervous her nephew was. He'd become quieter since the death of his parents. They were all hoping school would help him come out of his shell a little more.

Jesse stepped into the kitchen and sighed, "Come on son, there ain't no time left. You'll have to eat a bigger lunch."

"That's okay Uncle Jesse, I ain't hungry," murmured the boy.

Martha smiled sadly and pressed a kiss to the child's forehead, "You be good an' I'll be waitin' at the bus stop for you."

"Do I havta go?" the boy whined.

Jesse chuckled, reaching out he swept his nephew up and tossed him briefly in the air before catching him again, "Yep, come on kiddo, let's get going."

Martha watched the two leave the house and she felt her eyes water, this was just the beginning, she knew that before too long Bo would be going to school. Closing her eyes she listened to the sound of her husband start up the truck. "Auntie Martha!" came the excited cry, bringing the woman back to reality as she faced her sweet little niece.

"There's my beautiful little girl," accepting the girl's warm hug she smiled, "How about some breakfast?"

Jesse Duke held his nephew's hand as they walked towards the first grade classroom. The door was open and they could hear the excited chatter of small child like Luke. He glanced in through the doorway and spotted kids playing everywhere. Still he felt nervous. Jesse pushed the boy forward into the classroom. "Howdy Missy," Jesse greeted the young teacher.

"Hi Mr. Duke, and you must be Lukas," she was obviously a perky and charming woman as she knelt down in front of the boy. "Howdy I'm Miss Missy Jones; you can call me Miss Jones. Would you like to play with some blocks?"

The child eyed the blocks over in the corner, where another boy, a little larger than him, was trying to build them up as high as he could. "My name is Luke," he replied looking back at the woman.

She smirked softly, "Right, Luke it is."

The boy glanced up at his Uncle, then back over to the blocks. Seconds later it was obvious the boy's desire to play overcame his desire to go home as he took off for the toys. Missy chuckled as she accepted Luke's backpack and lunch from Jesse. "He'll be fine Mr. Duke."

"I know he will Missy, but he's the first, it's hard to say goodbye. Specially after all they've been through."

"Yes sir, I'll call you if there's any trouble."

Luke stopped in front of the boy who appeared to be slightly messier but appeared to be having a good time, "Howdy!" Luke greeted.

The boy beamed, "Hi ya! I'm Cooter Davenport, who is ya?"

"Luke Duke; mind if I play with you?"

"Sure thing buddyroo!"

Missy chuckled softly as she watched the two boys interact, she had the feeling not only had these two just formed a life long friendship, but they would also cause some trouble over the next year or so. Taking a deep breath she closed the door to the classroom and greeted her students.

TBC


	3. The Little Shadow

_A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, when I started writing a story similiar to this a year and a half ago I just couldn't find the inspiration. Now I'm fairly sure the insipiration is coming from both the reviews as well as all the writing and reading I'm doing for my classes. Enjoy!_

Chapter Two: The Little Shadow

One year and six months; a lot could happen in one year and six months. In that time Jesse had lost half of his brothers and inherited three beautiful children. Now all of whom were thriving well off their new environment. Luke, now seven and a half, in the second grade was raising all kinds of trouble with his teachers. Nothing to terrible though, just silly little boy stuff. He'd finally come out of his shell and was open. He spent a lot of his time with a boy named Cooter. The Dukes and Davenports had been instant friends, which appeared to be a good thing for the two children.

Daisy, almost five now, was a sweet little thing with a world of attitude and a tendency to mother the boys as much as Martha did. Then of course, there was little Bo, now two years old the boy followed his cousin Luke everywhere. There was no question that that toddler looked up to Luke. There was also no question that while Luke loved the attention he was starting to get a little annoyed.

The day at school had been bad, he'd done poor on some spelling quiz, he'd gotten in trouble for something he hadn't done. Because of that he'd also gotten a spanking from Uncle Jesse when he arrived home. So there was Bo, only two trying to follow and talk to his cousin—tell him about the pies he and Aunt Martha made and the cricket he'd almost caught; and Luke was in no such mood.

"Wuke! Wisten!" cried the child in annoyance.

Luke spun around; realizing that this was the only person he could tell off right now, anyone else was older and could spank him, "No! Go away Bo! You're driving me crazy you're always around bugging me. I don't want to play with you and your stupid little toys, I don't want to hear about your day! Just go away!" it was a mean and harsh thing to say to a child, but Luke was still reeling from getting his first real spanking.

Luke fully expected Bo to run to the house and tell Aunt Martha, which would of course lead to another spanking on Luke's part. He felt an overwhelming sense of frustration at everything that had happened, suddenly feeling guilty at what he'd said to a helpless little toddler he climbed into the hayloft and began to cry.

Supper rolled around an hour or so later, Martha Duke made her way out to the barn expecting to find both her nephews there. What she found instead was a pile of hay that hadn't been moved and a vacant rake. "Luke?" She glanced around hoping to spot them, "Bo sweetie?" she called again.

The hay loft began to shift, and she realized someone was up there; she let out a sigh of relief thinking the boys were just goofing around. While she and Jesse didn't really like Bo up there they were okay with it once in awhile. Luke was supposed to be doing his chores, but it had been a rough day and she couldn't blame him for taking a break. "Luke, Bo?" she climbed up the ladder.

Luke was sitting up, but his eyes were swollen and red as though he'd been crying. "Luke? Honey what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Aunt Martha! Please don't spank me! I was upset an' I shouldn't have yelled at him!" cried the boy.

Martha's brow furrowed, "Come down here," she said gently so not to frighten the boy further. She helped the distraught child climb down the ladder as soon as his feet hit the floor she scooped him up in a hug. "Luke, once you've been punished we don't punish you twice in one day sweetie and I don't know what you're talkin' about. Who did you yell at?"

"Bo, I'm sorry," he cried, "I was angry an' I told him to go away cause he was annoying me," he sobbed.

"Well then we'll just have to find Bo and apologize won't we? He's two Luke he loves you and that's always an overriding emotion. Now why don't we go find your cousin an' apologize then maybe you an' your Uncle can finish up your chores."

Still attached to the woman's hip she carried him into the house. They opened the door to the boy's room and Martha felt her stomach flop. Bo wasn't in there. Bo's stuffed bear; which Luke had given him after a nasty asthma attack, was missing. "What happened after you said the mean things to Bo?" she asked gently trying not to panic.

"I don't know, he ran away I thought he was coming back to the house."

o0o

Bo was getting cold, and tired. His legs hurt, and it was beginning to get dark. He was getting scared, suddenly he wished he had Luke with him. Gripping the teddy bear closer the child continued to walk away from the direction the farm was in. Though he didn't really recall where he'd been or come from—he'd stumbled twice now and forgotten which way he'd begun in.

Feel something begin to ache in his chest Bo sat down on the cold ground; remembering what his Auntie had said when his chest hurt. However this didn't help because a moment later Bo was crying.

Roscoe P. Coltrane had been Sherriff for just about two weeks, just out of school he was young and fresh to Hazzard, though he'd grown up there most of his life so he knew where he was at all times. He was doing his evening patrol; the area was usually really quiet. However his sharp eyes caught the sight of a yellow jacket immediately among all the fall greens. It was a child, and from the looks of it a very small child; stopping his patrol car he stepped over to figure, "Hello?" he spoke, hoping not to frighten the obviously already frightened boy.

Big blue eyes and a mop of blonde hair looked up at him. He was adorable, crying and scared. Not wanting to scare the child any further he knelt down so he didn't seem as big, "Howdy, my name is Sherriff Roscoe P. Coltrane, what's your name?"

The child wiped at his face with his sleeve; Roscoe noted it was a little dirty and had spots of blood. "Bo Duke," he whimpered.

Roscoe paused for a moment, he'd known a family called the Dukes when he'd been a kid, but surely they didn't have kids of their own by now. He hadn't been back for a few years. "Well that's a nice name, Bo, how about you come with me and we go get you cleaned up back at my office then we'll go find your momma."

The child only cried harder, "I want Wuke!" he cried.

Unsure who that was exactly, Roscoe nodded, "We'll find him soon little buddy, can I pick you up?"

The toddler reached his arms out to the stranger who was being friendly. Roscoe lifted the toddler into his arms and sighed, "My you're a big boy, how old are you?" Roscoe tried to engage the child.

"Two," he mumbled as he curled into Roscoe's warm arms.

Roscoe sat the child down in the front of the car, grabbing a blanket from the back he wrapped it around the boy, "All set?"

o0o

Jesse Duke came home to a panicked house, Martha was crying, Luke was crying and Daisy was crying because everyone else was crying and it scared her. Sensing that she need to be cared for first, Jesse picked her up and held her close. The calm reassurance immediately helped Daisy and soon she was back to her usual bright self.

"What's goin' on?"

"I'm sorry Uncle Jesse! I didn't mean it!" cried Luke.

Martha gently ran her hand through his hair, "Shh, no one's blamin' you sweetheart. We think Bo ran away—Luke said some mean things, which he didn't mean; and we haven't seen Bo since."

Jesse studied his nephew momentarily, "What did you say son?"

Luke sniffled, "I tol' him to go away Uncle Jesse, I'm sorry!"

The Patriarch sighed, "Son he's a toddler you can't say things like that to him he don't understand. Now don't you worry none we'll find yer cousin. He's only two can't have gotten that far."

He started calling everyone they knew, asking if they'd seen Bo, after several more phone calls, they were able to figure out that Bo hadn't gone to see any friends he knew. Jesse was getting worried about Bo's health, but he didn't want to show it.

o0o

The sheriff cleaned Bo up, and found him small shirt to wear for awhile. Feeling confident that the child was feeling better he sighed, "How about some soup?"

The boy grinned, "Yum!" he cheered.

Moments later the boy was slurping on some warm chicken soup that Roscoe's mama had given him. Recalling who the child had said he was, Roscoe went over to the phone and began dialing. The first two calls he got a busy signal. Finally it started to ring. "Hello?"

"Howdy, ma'am, my name is Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane, I'm calling in regards to a Bo Duke. No ma'am he's safe. I have him at the sheriff's office in town. I can bring him over. Still living on the Duke farm then? Yes ma'am all right I'll bring him over as soon as he's done with his soup."

Roscoe Coltrane was true to his word, as soon as Bo was finished he loaded the child back into the police cruiser and soon they were driving back to his farm. "I want Wuke!" cried the boy the closer they got.

Still unsure who or what Wuke was Roscoe nodded, "You'll have him soon son," offered the sheriff. Pulling in front of the house, Roscoe spotted Jesse Duke, his wife Martha and two small children. "Look there boy, you've got a welcome wagon. "

Putting the car in park, he opened the door and greeted Jesse Duke with a firm handshake, "How are you Uncle Jesse?"

The man chuckled, "I ain't your Uncle, but I'm good, I hear you have one of my nephews."

"Yes sir, an' he's been askin' for a Wuke…"

The small seven year old at Jesse's side grinned, running to the police car he opened the door. "Bo!" he greeted. Moments later the two year old had vaulted himself off the seat and into his cousin's arms. Crying, "I'm sorry Bo, I never meant it," whimpered Luke as he held the youngest close.

"That there is his cousin, Luke Duke, this little lady is Daisy Duke," Jesse offered the introductions.

"Your brothers had children, my they are fine youngings."

Jesse nodded, "I agree—though I fear you'll have your hands full with those two when they grow up."

Roscoe chuckled as he glanced over at them, "Probably, but then when has a Duke ever been a perfect angel."

"Roscoe, would you like to come in for a cup of coffee?" Martha asked smiling.

"Yes ma'am, I'd like that." Roscoe smirked.

o0o

Martha was preparing Bo for a bath a few hours later, having entertained Roscoe for a little while, he'd finally admitted he had his own family to get home to. She smiled, knowing how close Roscoe was to his mother.

She was helping Bo step into the bathtub when Luke stepped inside, looking remorse and guilty. "Well hello there, have you come to help?" she questioned her nephew.

"Yes ma'am," he whispered softly looking at her with his big warm blue eyes.

She chuckled and pulled her nephew over close, "Why don't you stay here and keep him company while I get his towel and a change of pajamas, think you can do that?"

Luke nodded and watched her leave the bathroom, closing the door behind her to allow the boys a little privacy. Bo wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, rather he was playing with a toy boat his cousin had given him a few months back. "Wuke mad?" he whimpered glancing up with a sullen face and blood shot blue eyes.

Sighing Luke knelt down beside the tub, and gently began to shampoo his cousin's hair, "I ain't mad Bo, in fact you're the one who should be upset. Look, I know you're only two, but sometimes you frustrate me," he paused realizing a two year old couldn't possibly comprehend that. Grabbing a cup he filled it half way up with water, "See this cup here?" Bo nodded watching the boy, "Well most of the time my temper is about at the level of the water," again the boy nodded, seeming to understand that. "Well today I got blamed for putting gum in a girl's hair—which I didn't do, so the teacher got mad," he dipped the cup again and a little more water ran in, "Then I got home an' Uncle Jesse walloped me good cause he didn't listen to the whole story. Which ain't his fault cause I back talked, so I deserved to be spanked," he dipped it again, the cup nearly full now, "Well then I had to do chores with a sore backside an' there you were just jabberin' away like nothin' was wrong."

Bo reached out, carefully taking the cup and dumping it out, "So Wuke got over fulled?"

Luke chuckled, "Yeah Luke let his temper over flow. I'm sorry Bo, I really am. You're my best friend and I love ya something awful. Sometimes I get upset, but it ain't your fault." Scooping up the water again he gently poured it over Bo's head, keeping the soap from going in the child's eyes.

"Bo wove Wuke too," the child whispered as he reached out to his cousin.

Luke smiled, not caring if he got wet he grabbed his baby cousin in a hug and held him close. Never aware that Aunt Martha had returned to see the whole thing; she smiled and shook her head. They were good boys, she was proud to be raising them.

o0o

Later that night, the bath and the cousins had been put to bed, Jesse stepped into the bedroom and sat on the bed he shared with Martha, "They're going to be a handful," whispered Jesse.

Martha chuckled softly and nodded as she watched him lie down, before wrapping her arms around him, "Yes, but then I have the feeling you and your brothers caused a few stirs your time as well.

Jesse nodded, "Roscoe was right, ya ain't a Duke if ya aint' causin' a ruckus."

TBC


	4. Always the Protector

Chapter Three: Always the Protector

September 7th, 1962

The house was busy, a small farm house that had once been peaceful in the mornings, a three year old stood in the kitchen screaming, a five year old was running around crying because she couldn't find her socks, and the almost eight year old Luke Duke sat at the table trying to coax his Uncle into letting him go fishing this weekend with Cooter.

Martha Duke was a strong woman, she liked to think so; however this morning was rapidly swinging out of control and she was dreading the idea of spending the rest of the day with a cranky Beauregard. Deciding first thing was first she looked at the toddler who was obviously going through his terrible twos and threes stage. "Beauregard Jesse Duke!" she spoke in a firm and demanding tone.

Immediately all sounds stopped, three sets of blue eyes were trained on her, all the children knew better than to defy that tone, especially from the normally soft spoken woman. "You will quiet down and eat the food we have placed in front of you. Another word from you and I will take you over my knee. You cannot go to school with your cousins cause you aren't old enough. No more screaming you're a big boy now. Daisy Mae Duke, stop running around the house like a chicken without a head. You will come sit down at this table and have breakfast; I will go find your socks. Luke simmer down your Uncle and I will discuss a fishing trip, if you don't want to be in trouble for your eighth birthday I suggest you get to eatin' that food 'fore you're late for school."

Jesse had to hide his smile, Martha was truly a natural when it came to motherhood, and seconds after she spoke all three children did exactly as they were told. As promised Martha handed a pair of socks to Miss Daisy, who thanked her quietly. Chuckling Martha dropped a kiss to the girl's head, "Don't you worry now sweetheart, you're going to have a wonderful first day."

"Okay kids, let's get ya'll to school," Jesse stood up and put on his favorite red hat, leaning down he kissed Bo on the head, "You be good for Aunt Martha okay."

"Wuke!" cried the baby.

Luke sighed and reached out to hug his little cousin, "I'll be home same time as always Little Buddy, you know the routine." with a brief hug to his Aunt the boy hurried out to the truck. Martha chuckled, Luke was becoming more of a man every day, and it frightened her how quickly he was maturing. A part of her knew that no boy should have the mentality of a twelve year old at eight. But he did, he was the big brother of the family and he took to heart the task of watching out for his cousins.

A tugging at the edge of her pants brought the woman from her thoughts. Daisy stood before her aunt with watery eyes. Martha chuckled sadly and lifted her niece into her arms, "its okay Daisy, I'll be here with Bo when you get home. Your cousin Luke will be there with you the entire day in a class down the hall."

"What if they don't like me," she whimpered as Martha carried the girl outside, vaguely aware their toddler was following her.

"Hey what's not to love about you," Martha whispered in reply as she kissed the girl's cheek, "Be your bright sunny self sweetheart. They can't dislike someone who is honest."

Jesse smiled at the sight of his wife cuddling Daisy, leaning over he scooped the girl from his wife's arms, "Now Daisy everything will be fine."

Sitting with Daisy between himself and Luke they made their way into town. Daisy had glanced through the back of the truck, watching as Bo struggled to catch up with the truck. Pulling in front of the elementary school he watched as Luke easily slid out of the truck. "Come on Daisy Girl," Jesse offered as he too slid out of the car and carried his five year old niece into the school.

Luke said a quick goodbye when he spotted Cooter and they headed to their classroom along with a couple of their other buddies. Jesse, having put Daisy down on the floor, walked her to the room she'd be in for the next year. The girl was practically clinging to her uncle, he smiled at Miss Jones. "Howdy Miss Jones," he greeted the young woman.

Missy Jones smiled as she saw Uncle Jesse with Daisy in his arms. She couldn't believe it was already time for Daisy to start school, she remembered when Jesse was talking about her being just an infant. She'd only had Luke three years ago. It didn't seem like time should be going so fast. "Well howdy Uncle Jesse, an' who is this beautiful little girl?" She'd discovered it was easier to win over the girls by complimenting them.

"Daisy," whispered the child looking at the teacher.

"Howdy Daisy, I'm Miss Jones, would you like to come color with me and a few of the other children? We're going to start story time in a few moments."

Daisy's eyes lit up at the word story time, her Uncle Jesse and Aunt Martha read to her all the time. "Story?"

"Yep, I believe someone has chosen Dr. Seuss, you like Dr. Seuss right?"

The girl's face went from a shy smile to a full blown grin, "Green Eggs an' Ham is my favorite."

"Well then perhaps we'll read that today, come on let me introduce you," She offered, leading the small girl from Jesse. The Uncle watched the woman for a moment, thanking God for giving this school someone so sweet and kind as their first teacher. She was obviously good at what she did. He waved at the younger teacher before slipping out of the room.

Missy led the middle Duke child over to the table where another girl and a boy were coloring. "Daisy I'd like you to meet Enos Strait and Betsy Mae, Betsy, Enos this here is Daisy Duke. Can she color with you?"

The boy's deep blue eyes grew wide, "Sure thing Miss Jones!" he practically giggled as he scooted over to make space at the table.

o0o

The final bell of the day rang and Daisy just couldn't wait to get out of class and tell her cousin all about it. She hurried out of the classroom with all the other students, only to find the hallways crowded and frightening. It hadn't seemed this hard with her Uncle Jesse.

"Get out of the way!" growled a voice, a moment later Daisy found herself on the floor and her tears welling up as two older boys glared down at her. "Stupid little babies think they belong in this school," the two boys laughed as Daisy tried to scoot away.

"HEY!" came a familiar scream. A moment later a body went flying at the two, "Get away from my cousin!" Luke came rushing in and shoved the bigger of the two boys away from the small girl.

"You wanna start somethin' kid!" growled the boys.

Luke took one look at them and easily guessed they were probably fifth graders. "Well if you'd rather pick on little girls then yeah I do," he hissed.

A moment later the two boys were moving towards Luke, "Get away!" growled two more voices. Luke looked up to see not only Cooter, but another boy no older than Daisy standing beside him. Daisy sat on the floor crying, Luke and one of the fifth graders were the only two to come away with any marks on their bodies. Miss Jones stepped in before they could give each other more than a black eye.

"Hughie! Michael, I would have expected better from you two," she pulled the fifth graders away and sighed, "I'll be calling your parents tonight don't you worry now hurry home before I decide to do worse than that." The two boys, still annoyed by the girl and her family glared one more time at her before hurrying off. Neither one would ever speak about how Hughie got a black eye from a third grader.

Miss Jones sighed and gently lifted Daisy off the ground; she immediately shook the woman off however and ran to her cousin. Luke reacted immediately and took the younger Duke safely in his arms. "You're safe Daisy Mae," he murmured.

"Boys, I'm afraid I'm going to have to tell your parents. You know you shouldn't be fighting. Don't get me wrong your intentions were honorable but students can't hit other students. Come on I'll drive you all home."

It was a long car ride; the Dukes were the furthest from school. the whole ride Daisy remained curled at Luke's side. Cooter's family seemed to handle the news fairly well, they apologized for the trouble but were silently proud of their son for sticking up for a friend, especially a girl against a Hogg. Enos' family would probably pass on punishing him this one time since he was obviously enamored by the Duke Girl.

The Dukes were going to be as easily persuaded. Martha wasn't in the most pleasant mood already by the time the kids got home, she'd been worried when they didn't come home on the bus; Bo had been cranky all afternoon and the tractor was breaking again.

"He did what!?" Jesse stood stunned in the living room looking between his two eldest children and the first grade teacher.

"To be fair Mr. Duke he was only trying to protect Daisy," Miss Jones offered.

Jesse nodded, "Be that as it may, my children are taught never ever to throw the first punch or hit someone. Thank you for bringing them home. I'll handle this."

She nodded, at least she'd tried to get the two out of trouble she patted Luke on the shoulder and ruffled Daisy's hair, "I'll see you tomorrow Daisy. Goodbye Luke."

"Bye Miss Jones," Luke replied stoically as if he wasn't terrified his uncle was going to spank him.

Jesse waited until the teacher was gone then glanced at his wife, Martha was holding Bo against her hip watching expectantly. "Why don't you give Bo and Daisy their baths, I'll handle Luke and then we can have dinner."

She nodded, "Come on Daisy honey."

"Lukas," Jesse spoke clearly. His nephew glanced up, then with slumped shoulders the child headed out to the barn.

Jesse sighed as he followed his eldest out to the barn, he didn't condone hitting anyone, nor did he truly condone hitting children. But spanking was a different story, and Luke needed to learn that attacking someone first wasn't the right response in the heat of the moment even if he was trying to defend someone. "Luke pants down please."

"Yessir," whispered Luke. Less than two minutes later he was buckling his pants back up and tears were streaming down his face.

"Son, I'm not giving you a spanking because I'm angry about defending Daisy. Family is the most important thing to us Dukes, I gave you five swats on your behind because you threw the first punch. The Dukes is a peaceful people Luke. We don't hit 'less we was hit first. You do everything you can to keep from hurting someone. An' you never ever hit out of anger, understand?"

"Yes sir," the boy whimpered trying to wipe at his face.

Jesse sighed and pulled his nephew into a tight hug, letting the child cry into his shoulder, "I'm sorry Uncle Jesse," he cried.

"I know ya are boy, I still love you. I'll always love you. Come on let's go inside, get you washed up and ready for dinner."

o0o

That evening Luke took a bath then went straight to bed after supper. Bo was already fast asleep in his big boy bed they'd bought a few months back. Luke, still wide awake and reading quietly jumped when he heard a knock on the door. He'd been expecting Aunt Martha or Uncle Jesse, instead however his Daisy poked her head in. Her face was red as if she'd been crying. "Daisy Girl what's wrong?" He questioned, quiet so not to wake his baby cousin. She looked upset as she stepped inside the room. He rolled onto his side, well aware that his red bottom still ached.

The poor five and a half year old girl looked at the floor as she closed the door behind her. "Come here Daisy," Luke gingerly sat up in his bed, forcing back a grimace. He gripped her hands and pulled her close as she was directly in front of him. "You're my cousin, an' that means yer blood kin. Now Daisy, Uncle Jesse says there ain't nothin' more important than family."

"I didn't mean to get you in trouble—"

Luke reached out and tilted her chin up so he could look into her eyes, "There ain't nothing I wouldn't do for you Daisy. Yer like my little sister an' as yer big brother an' cousin I'm s'posed to protect ya."

"Luke hows come they were pickin' on me?"

He shrugged, "Well you're small than them, so you're an easy target. They're just jealous cause you're so pretty. Don't worry bout them anymore sweetheart, ya got yer Cousin Luke here now, an' I'll take care of you."

The middle Duke smiled and curled further into his arms, she sighed for a moment before she allowed sleep to take her. Luke listened to her deep breathing for a few moments before he allowed sleep to overcome him as well. He smiled as well, thinking of all the fun they had, all the life they still had yet to live. He could deal with a million days like today if it meant having his two cousins at his side for them days.

Jesse Duke stepped into the room later that evening; he hadn't seen his niece leave and wasn't at all surprised to find her curled up on one side of Luke. What did surprise him however was on the other side of Daisy was Little Bo. Each relying on the other, he smiled softly at the sight. These kids made his life worth living every day. Made an old moonshiner appreciate the simple things in life, "Goodnight kids," he murmured pressing a kiss to all three cousins' heads.

TBC


	5. Home For Christmas

_Author's Note: First off thank you to all who have been reading this and reviewing! It's wonderful to know people are enjoying it. On that note because my folks are going on a vacation (and leaving me behind at college...) I have to give up my computer for a week I've saved the story on a zip drive in hopes to both update it and post online a little but I can't promise many updates this week. School has hit it's first five weeks so we have papers and tests to do. Please be patient if I don't update during this week I will probably be able to update much more next week once I have the computer back. PS this chapter is actually a true story and the doctor in it is based off my allergy and asthma specialist Doctor. _

Chapter Four: Home for Christmas

December 12th, 1962

Martha sighed as she heard the crying, it had been barely an hour since his last crying fit. At three and a half years old Bo Duke was a generally pleasant upbeat and affection little boy. He had his cousins, aunt and uncle wrapped around his tiny little fingers. However for the past several days he'd had the flu. He didn't seem to be getting any better either, she was becoming concerned. Doc Applebee had said if he didn't get better at the end of the week they should take him to the hospital. It was Wednesday and she was already beginning to consider it.

She sighed and stepped out of their bedroom, Luke was already wide awake and trying to calm his cousin. "Thanks Luke," she whispered. Stepping over to the bed she sat down and pressed her hand to her nephew's forehead. "I know you feel miserable baby, do you want something warm to drink?" they'd been forcing liquids for hours, though Bo wasn't keeping much else down. Every time he started crying he would having breathing problems.

The boy shook his head and just reached out for his Aunt Martha. Lifting the poor toddler into her arms she pressed a kissed to the little vision. He was just that, a bright runny red nose, rosy feverish cheeks, his head of blonde hair sticking out in every direction and his eyes were blood shot from crying and being sick. He was adorable and gross all at once. His hacking cough caused her some amount of worry though. She took a seat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room, holding the baby against her chest and slowly began to rock.

Luke watched her Aunt and cousin for a moment, however as soon as his Aunt began to hum he found his eyelids becoming heavy. Fairly sure she was signing for both boys' benefit he allowed himself to be lulled into a deep sleep.

o0o

Martha allowed Daisy and Luke to stay home from school for the day and rest while she cared for Bo, he'd been up three more times that night constantly waking up to cry or fuss; it felt as if he was a baby again. Luke had woken every time his cousin had and Daisy had been woken most of those times. Afraid the children would fall asleep in class in their exhaustion she used Bo's illness to simply call the two children off. She didn't normally condone lying to schools but this wasn't a lie the children were all exhausted.

Luke and Daisy both slept until almost noon, while Martha sat with Bo in the living room, curled up in a blanket in her arms. She'd spent most of the morning rocking his back and trying to give him soup to loosen up the mucus he was attempting to cough up. She'd patted his back, rubbed it, sang him to sleep, rocked him to sleep, read to him, fed him and a couple times she'd even cried with him. He was simply miserable and it wasn't getting any better.

Luke woke up before Daisy, trusting the eight year old she took a slow deep breath, "Luke go get your Uncle in the pasture bring him to the house."

"What's wrong Aunt Martha?"

She tired to smile, not wishing to frighten the child, "Everything s fine baby just go get your Uncle."

"Yes ma'am."

Wrapping her youngest up in a bundle of blankets, she watched her son leave and then headed into Daisy's room. "Daisy sweetie I need you to wake up and get ready to go somewhere okay. Nothing special but make sure you dress warm, okay?"

The girl nodded, half awake she began to rise from her bed. Martha stepped into the boys' bedroom, gathering a couple of Bo's favorite pair of pajamas she headed back into the living room. Bo was still where she'd left him. He looked up slowly and looked completely lost and miserable. "Oh baby I'm sorry we let this go for so long. We're gonna get you better, but I need you to be a big boy okay?"

He nodded slowly and reached out to her; Martha lifted the child into her arms and sighed, she'd been holding him for hours and as much as she loved the closeness a part of her wanted her rambunctious three year old back.

Jesse and Luke returned to the house in the fifteen minutes it took Daisy to get ready. Jesse took one look at his baby nephew and his wife, then to his niece who appeared to be ready to go, "Tri-County hospital?" he questioned.

Martha nodded and together the Duke family headed out to the truck. It was a twenty minute drive to the county hospital. She was concerned for her nephew, the child she considered to be a son, just like Luke and her baby girl Daisy.

Bo's professional Doctor was on rounds at the hospital and just happened to be pulling a shift when they came in. He'd been standing by the nurses station when they came in with the baby in a bundle of blankets, "Oh my," he smiled sadly, reaching out he put his hands under Bo's arms and lifted the boy into his arms. "Someone looks very unhappy, why don't we get you into an exam room and see what's going on in that body of yours."

"Martha why don't you stay out here with the children, you've spent hours keeping him company I can take it for awhile." Jesse offered quietly.

Truth was Martha needed a bit of a break so she nodded at Jesse's suggestion and watched as Jesse followed Dr. Slate and Bo back into an exam room. Meanwhile the nurse gave her some paperwork to fill out.

Jesse sat in the chair next to the bed; Bo lay on his back, trying to remain still the best he could for the Doctor. He knew how sick he was and he wasn't in much of a mood to put up a fight anyway. The doctor sighed as he pulled away from his smallest patient.

"Doc?" Jesse questioned.

"Bo, I need to talk to your Uncle Jesse and family alone for a minute, do you think you can be a big boy for me and stay here. There's a nurse that's going to come in and she's going to get you ready to go downstairs to a big machine that's going to take pictures of your lungs. Is that okay?"

The little child looked up with watery eyes, "Don't go," he whimpered.

The doctor smiled, "I know son, you're scared but I promise I'm only going to take a couple of moments than Uncle Jesse can come back in here and go down with you to the big picture taker, okay?"

Bo's eyes darted from the Doctor to the his Uncle Jesse. Then a woman stepped into the room and smiled softly as she recognized the family, "Mr. Duke, didn't fancy seeing you here again."

Jesse smiled warmly at the old friend, "Nurse Roberts, I thought you were a NNICU nurse?"

Moving over to Bo she began to straighten his blankets and look at the notes the doctor was leaving for her, "I moved up a couple years ago, I work in the pediatric ICU now."

Dr. Slate smiled, "Nurse Roberts is one of my favorites, Michelle we're going to get him an x-ray then if you could please get him settled in a room that would be great. His Uncle will be following him to radiology."

She nodded, "Bo, I remember you when you were just a little infant," The doctor led Jesse out of the room and over to his family.

Jesse felt better somehow knowing that Nurse Roberts was their nurse, she'd taken great care of Bo when he'd been born. Martha stood up, holding Daisy in her arms and looking concerned. Luke also stood at her side. "How's our boy?" Martha questioned quietly.

"Your nephew is suffering from an illness called pneumonia. Well at least I'm almost positive that's what it is. We're going to take a couple chest x-rays to make sure but he has fluid build up in his lungs which has me seriously concerned. In this case I have the feeling it's a bacterial problem Streptococcus pneumonia is the technical term for the problem. Essentially because Bo already has a weakened immune system from the asthma the flu he's had for a few days stressed his lungs out further and allowed for a bacteria to begin in there. Leading to the fluid build in his lungs, once we know for sure I'm going to put him on some of the strongest antibiotics we have, I also want to keep him here. I'm concerned that if we send him home it could become out of control. I'm not going to lie to you, pneumonia is bad just by itself but children with asthma have more trouble with it. That said, Bo is a fighter, he's one of the toughest kids I've ever had the pleasure of treating."

"Will we be able to stay with him?" Martha asked.

Slate nodded, "You can, however I have to advise against the children. I can make special arrangements for them to come visit but since they're school age it's far too easy for them to pick up a virus at school and bring it here."

"Bo ain't gonna like that," whispered Daisy.

Slate chuckled softly, "I know sweetheart, he's quite attached to you and your cousin, but for his safety it's going to have to be like this. Now Jesse, I believe we promised a certain young man that you would be in there when they moved him."

Jesse gave his wife and children a kiss before heading back into the exam room.

"Dr. Slate, is he going to be okay?" Martha asked softly, concerned about her littlest boy.

"Martha pneumonia tends to get worse before it gets better. You got him here soon, so hopefully that'll make a big difference. It's way too soon to know anything right now."

o0o

The x-rays had shown Bo was on his way to a very serious case of pneumonia. Luke and Daisy had been allowed to go in for a few moments and talk to their cousin, before Martha ushered them out. Jesse agreed to stay with Bo for the evening while Martha went home and got some rest.

The first night was rough, one of the worst for Bo and Jesse. Bo had lulled off after a lot of singing on Jesse's part. Then barely two hours Bo woke up coughing, which of course led to an asthma attack and unfortunately Bo ended up throwing up what little was actually in his weakened system.

Nurse Roberts was the first to come in, "We need to give him treatments Jesse, it'll help loosen up some of the gunk in his lungs."

The machine, was a plastic mask with two quarter sized holes in either side to allow the steam to escape. A rubber band held it over Bo's nose and mouth. The mask was then connected to a blue container that had a solution called Proventil, it helped dilate and loosen up the mucus surrounding the bronchial tubes. The apparatus was attached by a long tube to a machine that caused the solution to bubble and create a steam for Bo to breathe in. Normally Bo fought this tooth and nail even when he was sick. However, because the little boy was so ill he just lay there in his bed and took slow deep breathes while his body tried to fight off his infection.

Jesse hated seeing his youngest so still, even at four Bo was a wild little boy, who desperately tried not to let his illness interfere. It was almost painful to see such a lively child still, pale and sick. Jesse sat beside his nephew and ran his hand through the child's hair.

Bo's fever spiked the next day, he was placed on oxygen, and cold compresses to bring down his temperature. Martha stayed with him that night, sitting by his side watching the IV solution and antibiotics drip into his arm every once in awhile. He'd become unresponsive sometime after mid afternoon. He spent the next two days completely out of it, lingering between unconsciousness and fevered awareness.

With five more days until Christmas eve, Martha and Jesse were saying prayers that whatever happened, happened soon she wasn't ready to tell her niece and nephew their cousin may not come home, especially with Christmas coming.

Nurse Roberts had been off a shift and was working late on evening, she stepped into the room and observed the scene for a moment. Her favorite patient lay sleeping, oxygen tube in his nose pumping air into his lungs, he still had two IVs hooked up to him, one was an antibiotic and the other was cooled solution to keep him hydrated and bring his fever down. Martha, his aunt, slept on the couch near the window—it looked as though this was the first time anyone in the room was sleeping peacefully. Stepping closer to check on him, and get his blood pressure she was surprised he was completely covered by the blankets and wasn't sweating or shivering. Pulling his chart from it's holder she studied his vitals for a moment from the previous nurse. Pressing her hand to his head she smiled as blue eyes slowly fluttered open.

Meeting his eyes, she noticed his eyes were definitely clearer than they had been in the past three days. He studied her for a moment, as if trying to recall where he was, and then he glanced over at his aunt. "Shh…don't wake her up," he murmured.

Nurse Roberts chuckled softly as she pulled off the blood pressure cuff and thermometer, "Don't worry baby, I just want to check your blood pressure and temperature, can you be a big boy for me and keep this in your mouth?"

Bo opened his mouth, he was calm and relaxed as she stood over him, taking notes of the results. Removing both objects she looked at him for a moment, "How do you feel?"

He looked at her for another moment, "Sleepy," he whispered.

"Get some sleep baby, maybe we'll get you something to eat in the morning that's a little more solid."

o0o

Martha awoke the next morning feeling more refreshed than she had in days, her eyes opened wider when she noticed Bo was not only sitting up but he was coloring and looking brighter than he had in days. "Well good morning," she smiled.

"Wook what I dwew!" he grinned as he held up the picture, his voice raspy from all his coughing since he'd become ill.

She gasped, recognizing he'd attempted to draw his family, "Oh Bo, it's beautiful," she moved over to sit down beside her nephew, she pressed a kiss to his forehead as she pulled him close and smiled. "I love you baby," she murmured gently rubbing his arms.

A knock came on the door a few moments later and Dr. Slate as well as Nurse Roberts stepped inside, "A little bird tells me that you're fever broke sometime last night," Dr. Slate smiled as he looked over the boy's chart. "How are you feeling buddy?"

Bo glanced up, "Hungwy," the boy gleamed.

All three adults chuckled and Martha pulled him close again. Slate nodded and took the boy's temperature, heart rate, BP and listened to his lungs. "Well I am pleased to say that you sound much better than you did when you came in here."

"Go home?" the boy asked.

"You mean you don't love it here?" Joke Slate.

"No," the boy stated simply causing the adults to chuckle again.

The doctor smiled softly and nodded, "Good, we don't like you being here either. Well, assuming you continue to do well I foresee your family taking you home on Christmas Eve. But that means extra rest and resting at home."

Martha nodded, "He'll be resting, don't you worry."

o0o

As promised Bo got progressively better in the days that followed, until the morning of the 24th, Luke, Daisy and Jesse all stood in the room with Martha and Bo. Luke had helped Bo get dressed warm and snuggly. "Okay, he has to take this for the next seven days, bring him back in one week and we'll do another check up on him. If he sounds like he's even beginning to breathe irregularly give him his treatments. Now you three, Luke and Daisy you have to make sure not stress him out too much. He needs to get lots of rest and be fairly inactive for the next couple weeks. At the beginning of January we'll see how he's doing and maybe he can go back to light activities. You two need to be extra gentle with him, okay?" Slate spoke.

"Okay," Luke and Daisy both promised.

With Bo attached to Uncle Jesse's hip the family headed out of the hospital, all too happy to have their youngest member of the family back.

Bo took a nap as soon as they got home and then Luke spent the rest of the night showing Bo the tree he, Daisy and Uncle Jesse had picked out for him. It was nearing 7 pm, and they kids were getting ready for sleep. Martha knocked on the door to the boy's room and stepped inside. Sitting on Bo's bed was Luke, his baby cousin was seated between his legs, arms wrapped around the younger boy's shoulders a book in front of them as Luke read out loud. "Okay boys few more pages then bedtime. Tomorrow is Christmas morning and we need to go to church."

"Aww do we havta Aunt Martha?" Luke questioned.

"Of course we do, we have to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and the miracle that our Bo is still with us. Now I mean it two more pages than lights out."

Luke smiled as his cousin snuggled further back and closed his eyes. Luke read a couple more pages then looked down at his sleeping cousin, "An' they all lived happily ever after, night Bo an' Merry Christmas." Pressing a kiss to his cousin's forehead he closed his eyes and snuggled under the covers, willing to spend the night sleeping beside his cousin.

TBC


	6. It Ain't Always Easy

A/N: Sorry this took so long it's Midterms at college so life got a little busy, I'll try to keep it updated a little more frequently but I'm posting as I write too. Thanks for your patience.

Chapter Five: It Ain't Always Easy  
May 10th, 1962

Martha Duke looked down sadly at the piece of paper in her hands; Jesse sat in the chair by her side, watching her every reaction. He felt as if his own world was beginning to crumble. They'd decided to bring her into Doc Applebee's when she was complaining of feeling exhausted all the time. At first they'd said it was probably the children running her ragged, but truth was this was a totally different type of exhaustion she felt.

"Martha, Jesse I don't want you to feel like this has to be the end. We'll have to run some tests, but it's possible that even with this diagnosis you could live another three of four years. There have been some great advancement in treatment for this type. Some women are surviving five years now."

Jesse gripped his wife's hand, "How long in the worst case scenario?"

"Six moths, a year maybe; the best case scenario is five years maybe six if the treatment works."

Martha shook her head, "I can't do the treatment Doctor, I've got three children to help raise. I can't be exhausted all the time."

Doc Applebee shook his head, "Martha, you're only chance of survival is if you try this treatment."

"And if I do try it and I still die? You gonna explain it to my babies why I couldn't spend the last six months to a year with them playing? I've got a four year old; a beautiful little six year old that needs a momma and my strong eight year old nephew."

"Martha—" Jesse began.

"Can we wait, look at the results then decide if I can start the treatment?"

The doctor studied them both for a moment, "Of course we can; we'll run the final tests."

o0o

As promised three days later the tests came back, after another meeting with the doctor it was decided that most likely the treatment wouldn't do anything for the inoperable tumor. So Martha chose calmly to remain at home with her children for as long as she could before God decided to take her from this world. Now all they had to do was explain it to the children. But how does one explain to such small children that they were going to lose yet another parent before they hit their teenager years.

The day was dark and dismal as it was, the Luke and Daisy had a rough day at school as it was, so upon coming home they finished up their chores then headed into their rooms to play until dinner. Bo remained in the room he shared with Luke; after dinner Jesse and Martha sat the kids down, it was time to explain to them—the best that they could, what was going to happen in the next six months to a year.

Luke sat with Bo on his lap, Daisy was in Aunt Martha's lap as they waited for their aunt and uncle to start explaining what was upsetting them for the past three weeks. Luke chose to break the silence first, "Did we do somethin' wrong?"

Jesse smiled sadly from where he sat by his nephews, "No son, you didn't do nothing wrong, in fact you three have been very good lately, we're proud of you."

Little Bo seemed to beam at the idea of someone being proud of him, but when he noticed that no one else was smiling his own face fell, "Then what's wrong?" he questioned.

"Well as you kids have probably noticed by now I've been more tired than usual," Martha offered gently.

"Momma got real tired 'fore she had Jud…" offered Luke.

Martha smiled sadly, "I'm not going to have a baby Lucas, I wish I was. See kids, as you know God decides that sometimes it's time to take his children from this world."

"Is one of us gonna die?" Daisy asked looking up at her aunt.

"No baby, you, Bo and Luke are very healthy, I imagine you'll be staying that way for a long time, as long as you look out for each other. Babies, there's no easy way to say this, I've got a disease called cancer—it's an overgrowth of cells."

Bo looked confused, Luke's eyes grew wide and Daisy didn't seem to understand any better than Bo, "What's cancer?" Daisy questioned.

"It's a disease people get 'fore they die," mumbled Luke quietly. He didn't know much about it, but he did know that anyone who'd had it didn't live very long.

Bo's eyes grew wide this time, he hopped off his cousin's lap and ran to his aunt; she instantly made room for the boy as he threw himself into her arms, "Don't die," he cried.

Martha sighed, she hated this, it wasn't fair to try and explain something so complicated to anyone, let alone children that were younger than ten. "Bo, you remember what we said 'bout your momma and how she was taken because God felt it was her time."

"Yeah," he whimpered.

"Well God feels that it's going to be my time soon."

"How long?" Luke questioned, it was as if the boy had suddenly become a man before their very eyes.

"Six months to a year—maybe less," Martha replied.

"Is it gonna hurt?" Daisy questioned.

Martha shrugged, truth was she didn't know, and a part of her didn't want to know. Even if she did know, she wouldn't have told her children that. No fair to frighten them more than they already had. She knew Luke wouldn't react like the other two, Daisy would grow clingy and frightened, Bo wouldn't really understand it until the end, but when he did finally react it would be too late. So as she looked at each of her children she hugged the two in her lap close and smiled sadly, "So we're going to spend as much of that time together. We're going to try an' travel a bit if we've got the money an' we're going to enjoy ourselves."

Suddenly Bo looked up, his eyes bright, "Can God take me 'stead of you?"

Jesse closed his eyes, the pure innocence of such a small child, he decided to take this answer and stood up, lifting his nephew from his wife's arms he felt his eyes water, "Little Bo, you ain't done here yet. Your Aunt Martha has lived a good life and it's only gonna get better; she's made a difference by helping raise you three kids. We're going to honor what she's done by supporting her and growin' up to be good people."

"But I don't want her to go," he cried.

Pulling his nephew closer, cradling him against his chest, Jesse nodded, "I know boy, I know," deciding that they'd done enough damage for the night; Jesse took Daisy's hand and took his two youngest into their bedrooms to get ready for bed.

Luke sat on the couch, still in shock. Martha stood up and came over to sit beside the little boy, he wasn't going to be small much longer. He was already such a grown up in so many ways. She wanted so many things for Lucas, she wanted him to have a childhood to get the chance to be wild and crazy like Bo, but she knew it wasn't going to happen. Especially not with her death, Luke would become more of a protector than ever before. She reached out and gently gripped the eight year old's hand. "Sometimes things happen that we can't explain. Luke I have so many dreams for you—"

He looked up at her, his beautiful sky blue eyes filled with tears, "Does it hurt?"

She lifted him into her arms, like he was a baby again and cradled him close, "Not yet baby, not yet. Luke I need you to make me some promises."

"Anything Aunt Martha."

She moved him so they could look right into one another's eyes, "First off I want you to be a boy."

"But Aunt—" he smiled, but it slipped away as he studied her.

"I mean it Luke, you're such a big an' strong boy—becomin' a man right before my eyes. But you aren't a man, not yet not for a long time. Once in awhile, let it go, just take a deep breath and be a kid. It's okay, no one will think less of you if you just lay back and let the world take care of things. Promise me you'll let yourself relax a little."

He nodded, "I'll try."

"Second off, I want you to remember that you ain't just Bo and Daisy's protector, they're your protector too. Ya'll are family an' that's the most important thing, it's not a one way street of trust son, they trust you and as they grow up they should protect you too. Don't take all this responsibility on your little shoulders."

"I won't."

"Finally, cry. Lucas don't ever feel that it ain't okay to cry. That it ain't manly. When you're hurting you let it go. Because if you bottle all that emotion up in that big heart of yours it's only going to create more pain and anger. It's okay to feel overwhelmed and lost sometimes, that's natural."

As if right on cue the child began to sob, his Aunt held him close through his crying, knowing that after this point he would probably never openly cry the same. When he seemed to have cried it all out she carried the sleeping boy into his bedroom. She stood in the doorway for a moment and watched her two nephews sleep. It was something she'd miss dearly, but closing her eyes she could almost visualize their future. Sure there would be more pain someday, but for now she could imagine them growing up, finishing school, playing football, driving and having a good ol' time.

o0o

Life seemed to go on in the Duke house; Martha made more of an effort to spend time with each of her children: she taught Daisy how to cook, told her about men and women. She taught Luke the beauty in undying compassion and for Bo she continued to teach him how to have a love for life unlike anything else.

The summer months passed, Luke and Daisy returned to school, with Bo just a year away she felt torn about the idea of suddenly not being around anymore. It was hard to make a small child truly understand what was wrong and why she wouldn't be around. Bo didn't seem affected by it yet, she knew his life would change when he no longer had her to run to. Autumn came and went, and as winter fell upon them Martha's health began to rapidly decline.

Thankfully Christmas passed, each of the children got the chance to spend the last Christmas with Martha at home, in early January was when it finally happened. It had been a decent day, the weather was abnormally overcast and the weather had been cooler than normal, even for Georgia. Jesse was just on his way back from town when he hard crying inside his house. What he found was a terrifying sight. His wife was lying, unconscious on the floor and little Bo was trying to shake her awake. Jesse immediately chastised himself for leaving the ill woman and the boy alone, even if it was only for an hour.

Dr. Applebee stepped out into the waiting room and looked at the small family, his heart breaking at the words he had to say to them. He didn't want to tell them the truth, that Martha was dying and wouldn't live to see tomorrow morning. He didn't want to tell those children they were losing the only other momma they'd ever had.

"How's my wife Doc?" Jessed questioned, he'd lost so much in his life.

"Well, we've stabilized her—I'm afraid there isn't much else we can do for now. She's on some heavy pain killers. Jesse, I'm sorry but I don't think she's going to live to see the morning."

Jessed studied his old friend for a moment, "Can we go in an' say goodbye?"

"Of course, I'll take you to see her."

It was a sight that would be ingrained to Luke's memory throughout his life. His aunt was lying there on the bed, skinnier than she'd ever looked, hooked up to all sorts of machine. It almost reminded him of the day Bo had been born. He'd never seen his Aunt Martha as a weak person, and while he didn't think of her as emotionally weak he'd never considered her physically weak either. But now—now it was a whole new perspective of her and he didn't like it very much.

"Hey," Martha whispered as she looked down at her children, "Bo—you okay?" The pint-sized child nodded slowly clinging closer to his cousin Luke. "Can I hold you for a minute?"

Tiny arms instantly reached out to her, Jesse lifted the child up and placed him on the bed, "Aunt Martha I love you," he whimpered as he suddenly clung to her.

She pressed a kiss to his blonde little head, "Bo, you an' your cousins were the best things that ever happened to Jesse an' me. You were our sweet little angels. Now Bo, I want you to be big an' strong. Don't be just like your cousins—you just be Bo, an' know what I'll be watchin' over ya from Heaven." She pulled her youngest nephew close holding him tightly for a moment, savoring the last few moments she had. "You be good."

Luke went next, sitting beside his aunt, "You remember them promises we made, an' don't forget how much we love you. You've got so much to offer the world boy, don't you ever give up."

Before it was Daisy's turn, Martha looked around at the men and smiled sadly, "May I have a moment with my niece alone?" She waited for them all to bow out while Daisy sat beside her. Then she studied the beautiful little girl for a moment. "Daisy you're the woman of the house now."

"Please don't go," whimpered Daisy.

Martha reached out, stroking the child's cheek, "God wants me baby, can't say no to the big guy." That got the little girl smiling, "Daisy there are going to be many things in this world you don't understand, but I will offer you this. Be yourself. You are bright, an' beautiful. Boys will come to you when you get older, but you make the final choice. Be patient, the right person will be there some day. Don't let your cousins overprotect you all the time. Protect them too, an' remember you ain't never alone child."

Daisy nodded and laid beside her aunt, "I'm gonna miss you so much," whimpered Daisy softly as she curled up close to the older woman.

"I'll always be there Daisy, in all that you do, when you do the chores, watch after our boys, when you love. Everything you do I'll be there. It's gonna be okay baby." And Martha believed that, she had to because it was the only way she could have left the world.


End file.
